As you are gearing up for Gen Con, getting ready the year pilgrimage to Indianapolis, I am sad to say that JBE will not be attending this year. That, however, does not mean that you should be sad because we just relaunched our Not Going to Gen Con Sale. This year, it is all about the print books.

That’s right, this sale is on books you can hold in your two hands. Those that love the feel of the covers, the smell of paper, the sight of seeing the book on your shelf, and the ability to make notes in the margins, this sale is for you. You can grab these books for a nice discount.

How much of a discount you ask? Easy. All of our print books that are more than $10 are $5 off. If the book is $10 or less, it is $2 off. That simple. And this is on ALL of our print books, even the one we released only a few short months ago. So if there is a new release you wanted and you wanted it in print, now is your chance to pick it. Do you want to read it now? Well that is even easier. For $2 more, you can get the PDF. This means you can devour it now and still have the print book on your shelf.

This sale is exclusively at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. So hurry over there and order your books today. This sale will not last long. Share this sale with your friends on Facebook and Twitter as well as with your regular gaming group. I am sure they will want these books in their hands as well.

I wasn’t planning on writing another Starfinder post at this point, but honestly, the news lately have been … rather eventful … and not all that great. So I figured I’d give everyone a bit of a break for a few moments while you read about about a group of bad guys your character can thwart.

So if I wrote a Starfinder setting, what kind of setting would I write. I talked previously about how there will be anevil undead faction that helped defeat the good the various good planet nations. Today, I am going to share with you another faction that the good planets. But if the last group are your dalek’s that want to exterminate all life, how is this group different. The best way to reference them is with Joss Whedon’s Dr Horrible Sing-Along-Blog: The Evil League of Evil. While obviously this will not be their final name, its flavor is something you will undoubtedly recognize in some theoretical future version. These are everything from leaders of street gangs to CEOs to interstellar corporations that own people’s souls (literally) to evil repressive tyrants. So yes, these are your space nazis, those that make deals with demons, baby eaters and so forth that you can kill without feeling bad about.

This group has no single racial identity. They range from humans, elves, dwarves, androids, orcs, hobgoblins, seedlings, to all the alien races, a sentient horse, and many kinds of intelligent monsters. Their soul unifying desire is power. Whether that power is used to make them a ungodly amounts of money, satisfy their demonic patron, to create their army of automata that follow their every whim, or just have lots of people to whom they can cause pain without repercussions. This group is by far the least unified and frequently succumbs to its own infighting, since one warlord want something a rival CEO has and will stop its war effort just to claim the object of that desire.

This works great in a game because unlike the never-ending tide of undead, these can be small groups of bad guys that you fight that can have little to no effect on your resistance efforts. So if you take out Evil Mike of Mike’s ArcanoSpaceRaiders (for example), Glenstar Corp, who’s territory border’s Evil Mike’s, won’t retaliate right away since you solved a problem for them. Or even better for them, if you do not liberate the whole of his territory right away, Glenstar can capture it, increasing their stature. You may have just made an ally. A very evil ally, but an ally nonetheless.

Richard and I will be leaving for PaizoCon soon. While we are away, you Pathfinder game masters can grab yourselves some adventures or the players can get a new race all for 25% off the regular price during our PaizoCon Sale. The Book of Heroic Races Compendium gives you 117 pages of some exciting races to play. Between the plant-like seedlings to the whimsical half-faerie dragons to the death-touched reapers, these races and more will give you flavorful and enjoyable races far beyond the standard elves and dwarves.

Game masters will love the four adventures we have on sale. Start at 1st level with the Doom of the Sky Sword where your characters can either think or fight their way through the threats facing them. Continue their journey with Rescue from Tyrkaven where the adventurers awaken an ancient evil while getting back captured townsfolk. When they reach 7th-level, have the adventurers face off against a dragon bent on conquest, her lizardfolk army and her horde of half-dragon in the Reign of Ruin. Or if you are in an Egyptian-themed adventure path, be sure to pick up Quests of the Sands for when your adventurers decide to go off in a different direction.

I know a number of people have been looking forward to having the Book of Heroic Races Compendium in their hands as opposed to on a computer screen or on a tablet. Well that is available to you now. Over the weekend, I approved the print version and it is now available at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow. Pretty soon, we will have copies available at Paizo.com. In print, this book is 116 pages of pure awesome. If you like races that are outside the standard elves and dwarves, this book is for your.

This 116-page print book features:

8 playable races, balanced with the Pathfinder Core Rulebook races

30 class archetypes and class options and 4 prestige classes

46 feats, 14 spells, 16 magic items, and 5 artifacts

Favored class options for all races included as well as 11 races from the Advanced Race Guide

Jon Brazer Enterprises is committed to bring you our books in a fashion that you want to see them. That especially includes print. As such, we are making our newly released Book of Heroic Races: Seedlings available for Print from DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.com. This book, written by Marie Small is the first in our Book of Heroic Races series, giving players new balanced races they can play alongside a human, elf or other core book races. Seedlings are a plant-like humanoid race that possess a special connection to nature and the natural world around them. As always, you receive the PDF for free when you purchase one of our print books.

The d66 Compendium was our last Traveller title produced and it was available at your local game store for quite some time. Now print copies are becoming scarce so we want to make sure it is available for anyone that wants it in print. You can find it a DriveThruRPG or RPGNow.com. This book of names and ideas for your science-ficiton, far future role playing game is mostly system neutral and is easy for you to use in your home science-fiction game, regardless of the specific setting and system. Order this book today and get the PDF for free.

Yesterday, we described the switcher archetype for the fighter. However, they are not the only class that can use their switches in combat. This spell helps for some classes.

Whip With A Switch
School transmutation; Level druid 3, ranger 2Casting time: 1 standard actionComponents: V, SRange: personalTarget: youDuration: 1 round/level
The switches on your head begin to act with a mind of their own, whipping around you. Once per round for the duration of the spell, you may make a touch attack against all opponents within 5 ft. On a successful hit, you deal 2d6 points of slashing damage. Additionally, you threaten all squares within 5 ft. as long as the effect lasts. If you possess hair on your head instead of switches, the damage dealt is reduced to 1d6. If you are bald, the spell automatically fails.

Seedlings are skilled at magic item creation. Below are two of their specialized magic items.

Aurora PendantAura strong abjuration; CL 17thSlot neck; Price 137,700 gp; Weight –Description
Once per day, upon speaking the command word, this iridescent pendant briefly flashes with light. When the light dissipates, the wearer is encased in a sphere. This sphere acts in all ways as prismatic sphere except there is no blindness effect, and it remains centered on the wearer. This effect lasts for one hour.Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, prismatic sphere; Cost 68,850 gp

Exploding Seeds
Aura strong conjuration; CL 13thSlot –; Price 78,000 gp; Weight –Description
These four reddish-orange seeds hang from a section of vine. As a standard action, you can pull one of the seeds off the vine and throw it at a target within 30 ft. as a ranged touch attack. On a hit, the seed inflicts 7d6 points of fire damage on impact. Creatures within 5 ft. of the target take 7d4 points of fire damage; a Reflex save (DC 19) reduces this damage by half. Creatures that are within 10 ft. (but further than 5 ft.) of the target sustain 7 point of fire damage. A Reflex save (DC 19) reduces this damage to 3 point of fire damage. The seeds regrow at dawn.Construction
Requirements Bouncing Spell, Craft Wondrous Item, fire seeds; Cost 39,000 gp

A new day calls for a new kind of hero. The Book of Heroic Races brings you new and balanced races to play in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. From deep within the woods, the tree-like seedlings defend their territory against savages and monsters. The strength of their wooden bodies and the power of their divine magic shall prove true in your hands.

This 26-page PDF, written by Marie Small, details the seedling race, their unique fighting styles, and their magical abilities. Download this unique race to enhance your world and your game.

All week long, Jon Brazer Enterprises is previewing the Book of Heroic Races: Seedlings, available this Thursday at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.com and Paizo.com. Yesterday we explain what is a seedling. Today we are looking at the way that seedlings go about protecting themselves and about combat the dangers of the world.

One of the early section of the book details how seedlings fit into the 19 base classes (including gunslinger and magus). Some are exceedingly rare in among seedlings (such as cavaliers), and others form the backbone of seedling society (like rangers and druids). Some are just viewed with fear and skepticism and are must find a new home (barbarians, gunslingers). In the same way that elven barbarians would be looked upon with prejudice by other elves and a dwarven bard would be considered going against dwarven culture, this section helps the player to understand the races prejudices both for and against certain classes.

Immediately after that, the Book of Heroic Races: Seedlings details the archetypes specific to the race. Presented below is the switcher. This fighter archetype has the PC using a switch from her own head as her primary weapon. Read all about it below:

Switcher
Associated Class: Fighter.Replaced Abilities: bonus feat (1st level only), bravery, weapon training
Seedlings don’t need to wield dead wood or metal to be efficient at protecting their lands or repelling their enemies. They instead utilize their thickest hair switches as whips to brutal effect. Their personal connection to their switch whip grants them the ability to improve the effectiveness of their attacks.Switch Focus: The switcher gains the Switch racial feat and Weapon Finesse as bonus feats at 1st level.Switch Poison (Ex): At 2nd level, a switcher can squeeze her switch whip as a free action to make it ooze a viscous sap that causes an itching and burning sensation on contact. On a successful attack, the target must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the switcher’s level + his Con modifier) or become flat-footed. The duration of this poison is 1 round and increases by 1 round for every four levels beyond 2nd. The poisoned creature can spend a standard action scratching the affected area, ending the effect. Switch poison is considered a poison effect. A switcher is immune to his own switch poison. A switcher’s switch whip does not ooze this contact poison when wielded by another creature.Bloodied Thorns (Ex): At 5th level, a switcher’s switch whip grows long, hooked thorns, causing it to deal an additional 1d6 points of piercing damage, and 2 points of bleed damage per hit. This bleed damage increases by 2 for every four levels beyond 5th.Razor Leaves (Ex): At 13th level, the switch whip grows new leaves or nettles similar to those it held while attached to the switcher’s head. The edges of this new growth are razor sharp, causing the switch whip to deal an additional 1d6 points of slashing damage. This damage increases by 1d6 every four levels beyond 13th. These razor leaves only function for the switcher himself.Venomous Essence (Ex): At 17th level, the switcher’s switch poison becomes more deadly, inflicting 1d3 points of Constitution damage each round on a failed Fortitude save in addition to the poison rendering the target flat-footed. Two consecutive saves cures this poison.Weapon Mastery (Ex): The switcher must choose his switch whip as the focus of this ability.

All week long we are looking at the Book of Heroic Races: Seedlings. This player book will be available for download this Thursday at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.com and Paizo.com.

Deep in the forest, a race of tree-like humanoids thrive. As mysterious as they are rare, seedlings are friends to elves and fey alike. Some say seedlings are the young of treants. Others say they are wood spirits given physical form.

Most seedlings found outside a forest are either members of a clan or family seeking new territory or orphans. These clanless orphans are most likely to take up the adventuring path, either to avenge their lost kin or to find a new clan. Wanderlust is rare among seedlings but not entirely unprecedented. Many seedlings find the druid’s path a good fit to their natural abilities, although there are many rangers among them, and also specialized fighters known as switchers. These martial adepts specialize in using a specialized whip made from the branches that grow out of the top of their hair.

Seedling Racial Traits+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Dexterity: Seedlings are shrewd and hardy but they are physically less flexible than humans due to their bark-like skin.
Medium: Seedings are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.Normal Speed: Seedlings have a base speed of 30 feet.Low-Light Vision: Seedlings can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. Seedlings make their home in the twilight beneath the thick, intertwined canopy of primordial forests, and they are used to seeing with limited sunlight.Natural Armor Bonus: Their plant-like nature has gifted seedlings with a fibrous, stiff skin much like bark. This grants them a +1 natural armor bonus.Photosynthesis: While seedlings need to eat and breathe, their leaves and nettles can photosynthesize their own food and oxygen, allowing seedlings to go longer without sustenance. They receive a +2 racial bonus on Constitution checks to resist suffocation, drowning, and starvation.Planting: As a standard action, seedlings can extend their feet into the earth below them, rooting themselves to a single point. This spell-like ability functions similar to a tree shape spell with the following changes: the size of the tree is Medium instead of Large, and the seedling can only assume the shape of a tree sapling resembling her own appearance. For example, an oak seedling can assume the shape of an oak sapling but not a pine or maple sapling. While in this form, the seedling gains tremorsense out to 30 feet. A seedling may maintain a planting for up to 24 hours.Plant-Resistance: Seedlings receive a +2 bonus on saving throws versus mind-affecting effects and paralysis.Plantkin: Seedlings have the following spell-like ability: 1/day—speak with plants. The caster level for this effect is equal to the seedling’s level.Languages: Seedlings begin play speaking Common, Seedling and Sylvan. Those with high intelligence can choose the following as bonus languages: Draconic, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Treant.

Later this month, Jon Brazer Enterprises will be releasing the first in our Book of Heroic Racesseries. These all new player races will give you a new race to immerse yourself into. Each new race will give you all options with ways that never appeared in a Tolkien book. Enhance your world and your game with all and fully supported races.

First in this series is Book of Heroic Races: Seedlings. These tree-like people are one with nature and are peaceful unless you threaten the forest. Then you will face their defenders wielding weapons made from the switches on their own heads. This all new race, written by RPG Superstar 2011 contender Marie Small, delves into their society, culture, religion, and gives you a detailed look inside the minds of these enigmatic people. Included you will find all new feats, weapons, spells, archetypes, prestige classes and much more to fully flesh out these characters. And as a help to GMs, a section is included on how you can easily integrate seedlings into your existing campaign settings.

As a first look preview into these people, I would like to show you a spell and a magic item particular to the seedling people.

SporeSchool conjuration (summoning); Level druid 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 2Casting time 1 standard actionComponents V, SRange close (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)Target one living creature/2 caster levels, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apartDuration 1d6 roundsSaving Throw Fortitude partial; Spell Resistance yes
A miasma of small, black spores wafts up from the ground accompanied by a musty odor. Upon a failed saving throw, the targeted creatures become sickened for the spell’s duration. A successful Fortitude save means the duration is reduced to 1 round. If this spell is empowered (as per the feat Empower Spell), the targeted creatures become nauseated.

Exploding SeedsAura strong conjuration; CL 13thSlot –; Price 78,000 gp; Weight –Description
Five reddish-orange seeds grow off a section of vine. When you pull one off one of the seeds and throw it as a ranged touch attack, the seed inflicts 1d6 points of fire damage on impact. Creatures within 5 ft. of the target take 1d4 points of fire damage; creatures that are within 10 ft. (but further than 5 ft.) of the target sustain 1 point of fire damage. The seeds regrow at dawn.ConstructionRequirements Bouncing Spell, Craft Wondrous Item, fire seeds; Cost 39,000 gp